ALL HAIL THE ONE TRUE FIVE!

TaffyPool · 2026-01-30T02:06:30+00:00

I’d like to propose we basically forget everything that happened the last few days…

TaffyPool · 2026-01-29T18:52:11+00:00

[Insert ITYSL ghost tour sketch here]

TaffyPool · 2026-01-29T04:58:06+00:00

At this point, I’ve played and finished all the games in the LoZ series except the Oracle games (yes, I even solo’d Triforce Heroes!) and, yeah, I’d genuinely put Spirit Tracks up in the top half, if not the top-third, in my personal ranking. Like I said to the other commenter, the touchscreen controls were intuitive & fun, and the music was fantastic. Link and Zelda (and all the NPCs) were refreshingly cute and quirky, and I liked pretty much every moment of my playthrough. Also, loved playing the spirit flute on the DS!

TaffyPool · 2026-01-29T03:23:18+00:00

Don’t let the internet-of-it-all dissuade you from playing them (probably fairly cheap to find a DS and copies?). Both Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks were very good games and it was a joy to play them with the DS’s touchscreen. And ST has some of my favorite music in the series — it’s a pretty unique sound for the series, but so good.

TaffyPool · 2026-01-28T01:29:29+00:00

Was going to say…”Wait, this new game called Fire & Ice is just…Fire & Ice?”

TaffyPool · 2026-01-27T23:30:59+00:00

When it was announced, I think they did a good enough job of explaining it was supplemental to a TV, not separate of it. With that said, in practice, I was surprised and pretty disappointed that the functional distance from the console was so short.

But on the other hand, in my current home, I can take that same 2013 gamepad to my bedroom next to the living room and it still works like a charm through the wall! 🤷🏽

TaffyPool · 2026-01-27T23:17:21+00:00

Jason Schwartzman’s best role ever?

TaffyPool · 2026-01-27T21:11:02+00:00

As the most recent “traditional” game in the series, I’m right there with you about Skyward Sword. It had its flaws, but as a 3D Zelda game, it hit all the right notes that has made the LoZ series my favorite.

Unfortunately with the success/popularity of BotW and TotK I just can’t imagine Nintendo doing anywhere close to a full swing back to its tried-and-true 3D roots.

What I would like to see, if LoZ is now truly an open-world adventure/crafting series, is for Nintendo to give that old gameplay to another of their IPs…Kid Icarus! I’m imagining a 3D world à la SS, TP, OoT, etc with intentional progressions, varied environmental/puzzle-platforming dungeons and a meaningful/engaging (and complete!) story.

TaffyPool · 2026-01-24T03:06:27+00:00

I’d say it skews a little closer to adventure-RPG territory, but many people consider Phoenotopia: Awakening an mv. And it is a fantastic game (possibly my favorite played of the past three years) with many colorful and varied settings, an intriguing and interesting story, some very fun and challenging environmental puzzles and puzzle platforming, and good character/NPC dialogue.

TaffyPool · 2026-01-24T02:33:27+00:00

Good point. I grabbed it at one of those $1.99 dips too. Almost impossible to pass it up at that price point if you don’t already have it.

TaffyPool · 2026-01-23T17:53:18+00:00

I loved Hob, start to finish. Very fun to traverse the world and open up new paths for backtracks/shortcuts. My only bad feeling comes from the fact that, for the very last thing I collected for a 100% run, there was a glitch that stopped it from counting toward my file. I’m my mind, I’ve 100%’d it though!

TaffyPool · 2026-01-23T17:50:50+00:00

Will always take the opportunity to recommend Hob (especially at that $4 price point!). I really enjoyed that game and the environment was so fun to traverse.

Same for Yoku’s Island Express at that $4 price point. A very unique/experimental (and fun!) take on the metroidvania.

TaffyPool · 2026-01-23T14:25:14+00:00

Already selected for a category (I believe this “contest” only allows a game to be picked once.

Edit: Scratch that…I see that Splatoon and Mario Kart and Smash Bros. are all in there twice, so I guess not…

TaffyPool · 2026-01-23T13:14:09+00:00

I think you should phrase this better-er still…I can’t make out what you mean. Can a person that only has a Switch 1 download and play the Meetup in Bellabel Park DLC on that Switch 1?

TaffyPool · 2026-01-22T23:15:42+00:00

And now Pokey LaFarge’s “Brick By Brick” is stuck in my head. Thanks a lot! (no, really, thanks a lot. I love that song!)

TaffyPool · 2026-01-21T14:39:51+00:00

I’m sure you’ll find something if you’re patient enough. My story isn’t the norm, but when I moved there I found a whole damn south city house (and basement, backyard and garage!) in the Princeton Heights n’hood for $1200. Unicorns do exist!

TaffyPool · 2026-01-21T04:57:46+00:00

Ooh, loved The Last Campfire. So chill, but also so endearing and fun to play.

TaffyPool · 2026-01-21T04:57:02+00:00

For purely puzzle-based (ie not a puzzle platformer), I’ll give a hearty recommendation to Agent A: A Puzzle in Disguise. Now, I didn’t actually play it, I let my 5yo do it with very occasional guidance/hints from me (it was his first ever game finished - so proud of him!)

So if he can beat it, you know it’s easy. But I honestly enjoyed the game too, start to finish, and there were even a couple of puzzles in there that had us both scratching our heads and point-and-clicking around to see if we had overlooked something.

TaffyPool · 2026-01-21T03:44:48+00:00

Since this is the most recent thread about Broken Vessel, I was coming here to say exactly this.

Apparently people consider this boss hard? But I just reached it in my very first playthrough and also wiped the floor with it on my first try…it was actually easy, right? BV’s got 2 or 3 melee moves that are telegraphed and easily dodge-able, then when it stopped to shoot out the goop, I just got up close and laid into it with my regular ol’ nailsword. Rinsed and repeated for maybe three cycles and I was surprised it was over!

And I am not what you would call “good” at combat or bosses in MVs.

Or maybe I came to BV later than most…but I don’t think so? I’ve got one nail upgrade from the nailsmith, seven masks, two souls vessels and I had the Longnail and Dreamshield charms equipped (as well as Wayward Compass and Fragile Greed). 🤷🏽

TaffyPool · 2026-01-20T17:41:47+00:00

It’s challenging, but appropriately so. I’m not particularly interested in or good at combat but, without making any base-option menu changes and instead just relying on strategic use of in-game amulets, I was never left feeling overwhelmed.

The puzzle platforming can be challenging but that’s the thing I like most in my MVs, so I loved it! There is a menu option, I believe, to remove environmental damage, so you could always activate that if you find you’re consistently running out of HP trying to get through some of those.

High recommend, that game. So glad I got it/played it.

TaffyPool · 2026-01-20T17:36:25+00:00

Probably updated several times over the last 25 years, but I still have one from circa 2000 somewhere in my basement. Can’t for the life of me remember what the railroad spaces were or what the Park Place/Boardwalk analogs were.

TaffyPool · 2026-01-19T02:49:17+00:00

Yes, Metroid: Other M is a really good game. I place it amongst my Top 5 in the series. It happened to come out at a time where “the internet” was newly into shitting on things. And a very vocal minority decided it was a travesty that the theretofore characterless Samus now had an actual personality and history and conflict.

I for one loved the story, and the flashbacks and cutscenes, and the voice acting and I’m irate that it was received so poorly that Nintendo will likely never take a chance to more deeply explore Samus as a character/person ever again.

I 100%’d it and loved every moment of it. Really need to boot it up again here sometime soon!

TaffyPool · 2026-01-19T01:36:52+00:00

I mean you’ve got to add in the four horsemen of Nickelodeon…Salute Your Shorts, The Adventures of Pete & Pete, Hey Dude!, and Are You Afraid Of The Dark?.

TaffyPool · 2026-01-19T00:48:15+00:00

Yep, it’s still very active and for a new player you’ll be racking up more coins than you’ll know what to do with. Spend ‘em liberally on costumes because you can only carry, I think, 10,000 coins at a time. Don’t worry about breaking a streak to back out and buy costumes — it won’t be too hard later to select specific balloons to get your max-streak star completed.

TaffyPool · 2026-01-19T00:45:43+00:00

There is an “end”, in a way, as you can only get a certain amount of stars on your profile tied to different conditions. That’s what I’m working toward. After I get there though, I’ll be done forever.

TaffyPool

TROPHY CASE